Anil FernandoStewart T. WorrallErhan Ekmekcio&eth - 3DTV. Processing and Transmission of 3D Video Signals

This edition first published 2013

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ekmekciolu, Erhan.

3DTV : processing and transmission of 3D video signals / Dr Erhan Ekmekciolu, Dr Anil Fernando, Dr Stewart Worrall.

1 online resource.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN 978-1-118-70573-5 (Adobe PDF) ISBN 978-1-118-70648-0 (ePub)

ISBN 978-1-118-70683-1 (MobiPocket) ISBN 978-1-119-99732-0 (cloth) 1. 3-D television. I. Fernando, Anil. II. Worrall, Stewart. III. Title.

TK6658

621.388 dc23

2013021021

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-119-99732-0

For more than 100 years, the popularity of 3D images has waxed and waned. Initial interest in the more immersive experience that 3D video can provide has often been confounded by expensive production costs and headache-inducing problems in visual quality. During the last decade, 3D video has experienced a revival that has proved more enduring than previous episodes. Despite the sceptics, movies continue to be produced in 3D, and many new televisions sold are capable of showing 3D video. This means that there is a large amount of 3D content available, and increasing numbers of 3D televisions in the home. All of this should create the best platform yet for 3DTV to become a success, and has led to broadcasters putting dedicated 3D channels into their multiplexes.

As one might expect, 3DTV introduces a number of new challenges compared to existing television production and broadcast scenarios. This book is intended to provide an introduction to the key concepts associated with 3DTV. It focuses on issues on the content creation side, delivery to the end-user, and how we measure the quality of 3D video. It also investigates display technologies. These are probably the most challenging areas associated with 3DTV.

Content creation represents a significant challenge, as correctly setting up multiple cameras is challenging. This is particularly true for live broadcasts. If stereoscopic viewpoints are incorrectly configured, viewers will be subjected to significant visual discomfort. If live broadcast is not required, then post-processing can be used to adjust viewpoints, and refine the visual experience.

Delivery to the end-user currently takes place by packing two stereoscopic views within a single frame. This is a relatively inexpensive method of providing 3DTV, as it is compatible with existing broadcast systems, and does not require significant additional bandwidth to be used. However, to deliver a truly immersive experience for more advanced displays, more than two views will need to be delivered to the end-user. This means that new coding techniques are required to reduce the bandwidth required by the multiple views. This book examines some of the compression approaches that may be used to reduce bandwidth requirements for multiple view transmission.

Displays play a very important role in the 3DTV chain. Consumer equipment should be affordable, should provide a reasonable quality viewing experience, and should not give end-users headaches. We examine some different display types within the book, looking at some of their advantages and disadvantages.

Finally, we examine issues associated with measuring the quality of video. Numerical metrics have often been used to measure the quality of video. These metrics are known to be far from perfect for 2D video. For 3D video it would seem to be even more important to think about how to measure quality. Chapter 6 in this volume is devoted to what affects 3D visual quality, and how it may be measuredusing numerical, objective approaches.

We would like to thank the following academics and researchers, whose valuable research contributions at the University of Surrey, have helped inform much of the writing contained in the book: Professor Ahmet Kondoz, Dr Lasith Yasakethu, Dr Varuna De Silva, Dr Safak Dogan, Dr Thushara Hewage, Dr Hemantha Araachchi, Dr Gokce Nur, Dr Omar Abdul-Hameed, Dr Marta Mrak.

Parts of the work presented throughout this book has been conducted within the European collaborative research projects DIOMEDES (Distribution of Multi-view Entertainment using Content-Aware Delivery Systems), MUSCADE (Multimedia Scalable 3D for Europe) and ROMEO (Remote-Collaborative Real-time Multimedia Experience over the Future Internet). We would like to thank the researchers who participated in these collaborative research projects for their valuable contributions towards obtaining the presented research results. In particular, the authors would like to acknowledge the contributions done by the researchers from Technicolor, France, in Chapter 5 of this book.